Gone
by Gandalf3213
Summary: A girl from the boys' school is gone. The question is, did she run away or get kidnapped or killed? And who is this person who doesn't want the Hardys to find out?
1. Missing

**I own the Hardy Boys. I wish.**

**Don't it always seem to go, that we don't know what we got 'til it's gone ― Big Yellow Taxi**

Just by living, we all touch people's lives. By breathing we all share a common bond. By laughing we share a common language, even if we don't understand a thing the other person has to say.

You don't know exactly what another person means to you until they're gone. When you walk into the classroom and there's an empty chair. You barely even knew her, yet she's been in your class since first grade. The only thing you remember about her is her smile. Her laugh, which sounded like a four-year-olds, happy as anything.

You sit down next to your brother, seeing that he's affected by the absence too. You lean across Chet, across the girlfriends, until you reached his ear. You whisper two words, "Our case," then you back up.

You're not surprised by his raised eyebrows; usually he's the one to jump onto any case that presents itself. But this is different. You _knew _her. You have to investigate her disappearance.

You think it's her laugh, it was always contagious.

The facts are typical. Katie, the girl, is gone. A note requesting twenty-five thousand dollars was left at her house. The cops who had been assigned to the case had found nothing else. But there had never been a case yet that the Hardy's hadn't solved.

To bad they had been strictly forbidden by their father to stay away from the case. But that had never stopped them either, had it?

**Don't worry, the story is not going to be in the "you" pov. Scouts honor. Just review. You won't regret it.**


	2. Bricks

**I own the Hardys. Not.**

I flipped through the yearbook, thinking about my brother's strange behavior. He was acting really weird about this girl. And he barely even knew her. I got to the page with Katie on it and stopped. She was pretty ― not like cheerleader-pretty like everyone else was. She had strawberry-blond hair and freckles. She was laughing at something I couldn't see, making her eyes sparkle. And even though the picture didn't show it, her eyes were unusual. Kind of like the ocean, which could be crystal-clear blue at one point and a weird grey-green at another.

Anyway, I was looking at the picture when Frank climbed in the car. He had been getting directions to Katie's house. I know, I know, we had been forbidden to even breathe on the case, but we just couldn't let this girl stay missing, could we?

Frank didn't talk the whole way there, which was unusual for him. He loved to talk about a case to "look at it from every angle". Told you he had been acting weird lately. I mean, it wasn't like we hadn't ever looked for people before, nor was this the first time we had looked for someone we knew. Like one time, Biff and Chet, two of our good friends, got kidnapped because this guy thought they were me and Frank. Things like that were always happening.

And, of course, we spent hours looking for each other. And being looked for.

Plus he didn't even know the girl that well. She was an all-honors student, and even geeky Frank wasn't all-honors. But they had some classes together. She was a year above me, so I only had gym with her.

And yeah, she was cute in a kid-sister kind of way. Her laugh was awesome, and she laughed a lot. She seemed to have a lot of friends, though she wasn't real popular. She had a steady boyfriend. (Note to self: Find boyfriend ― Avery Somebody?) Basically an average teenage girl.

Was I going on too much? It's just that Frank is _so_ quiet. I have nothing else to do.

We got to the house just as it started to rain. I made a dash for the house. Frank took the scenic route, like he never even noticed the rain. I rang the doorbell just as I realized I had no idea what to do. I decided to wing it.

A boy came to the door. He seemed about my age, though he was a little shorter to me. I recognized him from the wrestling team. He was Jordan, Katie's brother. He was looking at me warily, "What do you want?"

I was about to answer when Frank cut me off, "We're trying to find your sister."

It was a total change that took place on the boy ― Jordan ― his face lit up. He looked behind him, as if making sure no one else had heard, then stepped out the door, closing it behind him. "My mom is totally whacked out about this. I mean, Katie would never have run away. She must have been kidnapped."

"Can you tell us the last place you saw your sister?" Frank, again, beat me to the question. We both knew that Jordan had been the last person to see Katie.

The boy gestured towards the backyard, "In the gazebo. The police have already been through it, but you might find something."

But it was really raining now. Even though Frank and Jordan might not be bothered by this, I was. I jogged back to the van, ducking into the backseat to get my sweatshirt. Just as I leaned over the seat, the windshield broke into a thousand pieces as a brick sailed through it, hitting me on the leg.

For a second, I was sure my leg was broken; it sure felt like it was. I bent over double, clutching at my leg.

"Joe!" Frank had opened the door and had dragged me out, still clutching my throbbing leg. I looked up at him, seeing his wild eyes almost made me laugh, except that I felt really far from laughing. I must have looked pretty horrible, there were about fourteen pieces of glass embedded in my arms and legs and one in my forehead. Frank kneeled down next to me, prying my hands away from my leg.

It was pretty swollen, and I was going to have one heck of a bruise, but it wasn't broken. Frank took my sweatshirt, which I had balled up as if it could take the pain away, and used it to cover a particularly deep cut on my arm.

Jordan had been looking in the car, and now he took out the brick that had hit me. He showed it to us.

HARDYS (It read)

STAY AWAY FROM THIS CASE OR YOU'LL HAVE WORSE PROBLEMS THEN A BROKEN LEG.

I gasped, not from the content of the note, but because a sudden pain had erupted in my side. I put my hand to it. It came away red and sticky.

Both Frank and Jordan gasped, looking at the blood that had begun to blossom on my T-shirt.

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	3. Hospitals

**I really wish I owned it, but I don't.**

Anyone who has a brother, or a best friend, I guess, knows that one of the worst feelings you can get is that flippy thing your stomach does when you see them hope. If you've never felt it, you probably will.

Joe looked at me, and in his eyes were two emotions I hoped would never be mixed, fear and confusion. I raised his shirt until it was just above the wound, and had to look away as soon as I saw it. There was a three inch gash in my brother's side, and it was really deep.

Joe's face was scrunched up in pain, and by the way his eyes were watering, you could tell that he was trying very hard not to scream. "Put your hands on my shoulders. Don't look." Joe put his arms on top of my red shirt, they were shaking. "This is going to hurt."

I had already torn off a piece of the sweatshirt and, as quickly as I could, placed it over the gash. I heard a sharp intake of breath, and Joe instinctively moved his body away from me. "You can't do that, Joe, it needs pressure."

Don't ask me how my voice was so calm when inside, I was screaming. I didn't know how deep the cut was, and for those of you who don't know, your stomach area holds a lot of stuff that you can't find at Wal-Mart.

Three minutes ago, we were trying to solve a mystery. Now Joe had a potentially fatal injury. One that was bigger then the other dozen or so on the rest of his body.

It's really amazing what can happen in three minutes.

"An ambulance is on its way."

I looked up, focusing my eyes on the boy who was standing above me. I had totally forgotten about Jordan. Jordan pushed his wet, dark hair out of his eyes, and I could see how pale he was. But I managed a small smile. "Good thinking. Thanks."

A low hiss from Joe made me turn back towards him. I was glad to see that the makeshift bandage was doing its job; the wound must not have been as deep as I thought. But Joe was pale. I pushed the hair away from his face and tried to calm him down. He was suffering more from shock then anything. Who wouldn't?

Joe was still pale when the ambulance arrived, but he was able to climb inside himself. I promised to meet his at the hospital ― I had to get a tow truck for the van.

Jordan offered me a lift to the hospital, and I took it gratefully. Not only would I have a mode of transportation, but I'd be able to ask him a couple questions.

Don't look at me like that. Was I worried about Joe? Damn straight I was worried. But believe me, I had seen Joe much worse off. And I really needed some information, otherwise where would I start the investigation?

Jordan had barely gotten out of the driveway when I started in on him. "So why didn't your mom freak out when she saw the ambulance?"

Jordan, who was still pale, when a shade whiter, "Well, she's been on these real heavy painkillers since Katie disappeared. She's asleep most of the time when she's not working the night shift."

Without thinking, I asked another question, "And your dad?" I know, I have a lot of tact, don't I? But my head was in about three hundred different places.

But Jordan answered my question without emotion. "He's gone. Just disappeared off the face of the Earth about four years ago. Haven't seen him since."

Now you can't really blame me for wanting to get off _that_ subject. "I don't really know your sister all that well, what's she like?" You'll notice I didn't use past tense, it's 'cause it frightens a lot of people.

Jordan pushed his hair out of his eyes again, "She's a real nice girl, and not just because she's my sister. She's popular but I don't think she even knows it. She'll just as soon hang out with the class dork as a jock. I don't think she can even distinguish black from white, 'cause she sometimes brought home these big 'ol black kids that would scare the living daylights out of everyone else." He paused for a second, and seemed to be remembering something.

"Everybody liked her, in case you were wondering. She nice to everyone. Got good grades, but not in a teacher's pet kind of way. She stuck up for what she believed in, though. That's what got her in trouble a lot of the time. If she didn't agree with something, she'd just flat out not do it. Oh, and she never drank a day in her life."

We were pulling into Bayport hospital by now. Jordan took one look at the place and tuned a kind of greenish gray that made me sick just looking at it. "Mind if I drop you off here?"

I didn't mind at all. I had a lot to think about.

When I finally found the right room in the right wing, I saw that mom and dad were all ready there. They had been in the hospital so many times for one or both of us that I think they sometimes drive there in their sleep.

The doctor was just finishing sewing up the last of my brother's wounds. "How many stitches?" Joe asked, hopping off the table and regretting it when he almost fell over.

"In all? Fifty-six. No more jumping for at least three days, though. You probably shouldn't do anything energetic for a week. And don't break the stitches."

Mom and dad talked to the doctor, because they knew they weren't getting much information out of us. Joe and I walked right out of that room. It smelled like being dead.

"They should have given you some blood." I said quietly as Joe leaned against me. He smiled up at me, but I could tell he was tired.

"They wanted to. But if I get anymore of someone else's blood pumped into me, they'll be no more of mine." Joe almost fell, but I caught him just in time. "I'm getting that guy, Frank." He said, his voice hard. "He's going to pay."

Oh yeah, was he going to pay. Nobody hurts my brother and gets away with it. Not if I have anything to say about it.

**Okay, I worked really hard on this. You have to review.**


	4. Football

**I own it not**

**If you think you're in control, you're just not going fast enough.**

Joe wanted more then anything to get in the game, but he had to content himself with sitting in the stands, at least until his mother stopped fussing over him like he was going to break any second. So he was there to root Biff on, but he also had another agenda that had to wait until after the game.

Bayport won by a field goal in the last eighteen seconds of the games, kind of like the Giants vs. the Eagles. Anyway, Joe and Frank made their way down to the locker room entrance and waited until Avery Cunningham, the running back and Katie's boyfriend, came out.

He was the absolute last person to come out, walking with a slight limp that Joe knew was because of an excellent tackle made by the other team. Avery smiled when he saw Joe, his straight white teeth showing out against his face, which was as black as midnight when the stars slept.

Frank was stricken by how tall he was. At six foot one, he hardly had to look up to anybody, but Avery was a whole head taller then he was, and when he moved, the toned muscles in his legs and arms rippled. He would be somebody you wanted on your side in a fight.

"How're you guys?" he asked, getting the general _good_ in response. "Sorry you missed the game, Joe, we coulda used you." Joe was his usual defender, running interception for him.

"Yeah. Hey Avery, can you spare a minute? It's about Katie." Joe saw the smile slip, the weird green eyes blink.

"Sure. I was wondering when someone would get around to me." He gestured over to a nearby bench, putting his leg up when he sat down and rubbing it absentmindedly. "You know, I dropped off Katie the day she went missing."

The Hardy's let him talk, listening intently. They didn't want to miss anything.

Avery was looking out into space, staring at the swooping bats that now inhabited the field with a vacant expression before speaking again. "She was upset that day, she'd heard that her dad was back in town."

"Where was he before that?" Joe asked, half-dreading the answer.

The brilliant green eyes flashed with anger, "Prison, been there since Kate was 'bout five. Robbery, I think. He was on parole."

Frank saw where this was going, and he didn't like it too much. "Thanks, Avery. You've given us a lot of information." _Too much._

Avery was still rubbing his leg, going over the spot again and again. "You guys get that man, okay? And bring Katie home safe."

Frank and Joe thanked the boy and left, neither of them wanted to think about what would happen if their girlfriends went missing.

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